


Just details

by static_abyss



Category: Shadowhunters (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe - College/University, Alternate Universe - Human, Gen, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-12-22
Updated: 2017-12-22
Packaged: 2019-02-18 08:13:34
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,713
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13096044
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/static_abyss/pseuds/static_abyss
Summary: Jace is dating Isabelle, and Simon's life is over. Or something not exactly like that.





	Just details

**Author's Note:**

> HAPPY HOLIDAYS TO [the-undergod](http://www.the-undergod.tumblr.com)! I hope you enjoy them and hope you like the fic.

Jace is dating Isabelle, and Simon's life is over.

*

"You don't know that," Clary says. 

They're in the college cafeteria, at a corner table by the wide windows that look out into the soccer field. Past the snow covering the field, off in the distance, almost too far to see from this angle is the arboretum. Or, the place where the kids from his Music Theory class go to get high. 

Simon likes the arboretum because there are about four different paths that veer off in different directions, before meeting in the center clearing. The arboretum is designed so that every time someone goes in, it feels like a new unwalked path. Also, Jace likes to hang out by the center clearing. But that's more of a bonus than a reason.

"Simon?" Clary calls.

Simon looks away from the window, quickly at Clary, and then because he can't help it, right back to where Jace and Isabelle are huddled in the opposite corner. They're sitting at a table for four, but on the same side so they can look down at Isabelle's phone or tablet, Simon can't tell from this distance. Isabelle's long black hair is falling over Jace's shoulder and he has a hand around the back of Isabelle's chair.

"They're wearing matching jackets," Simon says. 

"They both play lacrosse or do fencing, or something," Clary says. 

Simon squints. He can't see if there are words on the back of Jace's jacket, but he recognizes the dark blue and white school colors. 

"All right," Simon says. "Still."

Clary rolls her eyes. "Listen," she says. "You could just ask him out. You guys did do that biology paper together, and you said it was good."

Simon blinks. "Clary," he says. "One science paper means nothing. I'm barely a blip on his radar. I'm just the nerd, who had eighteen sources ready to go the first day we met up to write the damn paper. Look at Isabelle. She's beautiful."

Clary scoots her chair closer to Simon so she can get a better look at Jace and Isabelle. "You know," Clary says. "They're kind of sitting like how we always sit."

Simon frowns, but let's his eyes trail back over to Jace and Isabelle. Jace is mid-laugh, his head thrown back. His hair is ridiculous, Simon thinks, cut short on the sides and long on top so that Jace is always running his fingers through his hair to keep it out of his eyes. Isabelle is laughing too and the shove she gives Jace is too neutral to tell Simon anything. 

"He's such a jock," Clary says, shaking her head. "You have horrible taste in people."

"Hey," Simon says. "I have impeccable taste."

Clary laughs, and then laughs harder when she sees Simon's face. 

"Hey," Simon says, but he's fighting back laughter. 

Across the cafeteria, Jace turns to look at them.

*

"Hey," Isabelle says when she notices where Jace is looking. 

Jace shakes his head and turns back to her. "I'm fine," he says. "I know what I'm getting into."

Isabelle frowns and glances over at Simon and Clary. The cafeteria is full enough that she could be looking at the guys on the table in front of her. Isabelle doesn't really know Clary or Simon, but she can understand why Jace has been suffering for the past two months. 

Clary sits right next to Simon, both of them mid-laughter. There's a familiarity between them that could be born of years of knowing each other, or of two people who have been or are intimate with each other. But something doesn't sit right with Isabelle. She watches a little longer, doesn't look away when Clary glances their way.

Clary is in Jace's calculus class, the 1:15 one that starts right after lunch. Isabelle has never really spoken to Clary, but there's something about the way Clary is watching her right now that Isabelle is almost sure she recognizes. 

"Why are you staring so hard?" Jace asks. 

Isabelle shushes him. She keeps looking at Clary, let's her eyes wander over Clary's bright red hair, her smile, the light that barely hits Clary's hand. Isabelle leans forward and puts her chin on her hand. 

"You know," Isabelle says. "They're sitting at a table for four."

"Alec is on his way, " Jace says, automatically.  
Isabelle let's her eyes drift away from Clary and over to Jace. "You're going to want to listen to me," she says. 

Jace pretends to think about it for a second, and then he's up, shoving his chair into the table and adjusting his jacket. He runs a hand through his blonde hair and takes two deep breaths. 

"Hey," Isabelle says, nudging him on her way to her feet. "Relax."

Jace nods and Isabelle makes a show of picking up her coffee and backpack. Jace throws his bag over his shoulder, expression bored, a little to the side because he knows he looks best from the left. Isabelle would laugh if she didn't know how much he wants for Simon to like him back.

*

"Clary," Simon says, real panic in his voice when he sees who's walking his way.

Jace and Isabelle are both up, Jace tall and blond and unapproachable in his school jacket. He looks bored, his eyes gazing across the room, sweeping right over Simon and back. 

"Sh," Clary says taking Simon's hand. "Just let it happen."

Simon swallows hard when Jace's eyes snap back to him. He's staring now, a small frown on his face as he gets closer. Simon is aware that Isabelle is with him, but he can't look away from Jace. 

"I'm hallucinating," Simon tells Clary right around the same time that Isabelle and Jace make it to their table.

Isabelle grins, and Jace says, "Yeah, we get that a lot."

*

The thing about Jace is that he's very good at talking to people he likes, except for some reason, when it comes to Simon. 

They get assigned as partners for their biology term paper, and all Jace does the first time they get together is stare as Simon goes on about science papers. Jace tries to come up with something all afternoon, anything that isn't about which sources they want to keep for their paper, and gets nothing.

He thinks it's probably because Simon is so close and he smells good, like expensive cologne. Jace doesn't even try to be subtle when he sits down next to Simon, both of them close because they're sharing Simon's laptop. It gives Jace and excuse to brush up against Simon, to press their legs together when he leans forward to read the laptop screen. 

It gets worse from there, because Simon is funny and he makes Jace laugh, and Jace still can't find the right words. They get together in the library, in the cafeteria, and Jace still doesn't know how to say that he wants to have Simon over for dinner and maybe blowjob after. 

He almost says something once, when he and Simon were at the lawn outside of the science building. They'd started off talking about science papers and had ended up arguing over movies they both should watch. It had been good, because Simon handy moved away when Jace had shifted closer, and Jace had been three seconds from just going for it when Clary had shown up.

She'd walked right up to them, the sun lighting up her hair and her brown eyes. Beautiful Clary that made Simon smile so wide it looked like it hurt.

"Hey Fray," he'd said, patting the space next to him. 

Clary had sat right in front of Simon, their knees bumping together. 

"Hi," Clary had said.

Jace had waited, hoped that maybe Clary was Simon's friend or cousin. But Simon had started talking and Jace hadn't known exactly what to say. Until Clary had taken pity on him and kicked Simon as discreetly as she could.

"Oh," Simon had said. "I forgot about Jace. Clary, this is Jace. Jace. Clary."

Jace had done his best to be part of the conversation, but he hasn't been able to get Simon forgetting him out of his head. The longer he sat, the more obvious it became that he was the extra in their group. So he'd gotten up, had said something about meeting up with Isabelle and had left them to it.

Isabelle knew almost immediately, because Jace never keeps secrets from her about these things. Jace trusts her, so when she asks him to follow her across the cafeteria and right over to Clary and Simon, Jace does it.

*

"So," Isabelle says, handing her cup of coffee to Jace and planting her hands on the table in front of Clary. "Can we sit?"

Simon can't help himself. He looks over at Jace, at the easy nonchalant look on his face. He raises an eyebrow when he sees Simon watching him, and Simon's heartbeat jumps once. Jace looks good. 

"Sure," Clary says. 

Jace makes to take the seat across from Clary, but Isabelle beats him to it, sliding in like Jace always meant to pull the chair out for her. Simon wants to run, especially when Jace takes the seat across from him, slouching down so that his knees hit Simon's under the table. They stare at each other, neither of them moving away, and there's something on Jace's face that seems confused. 

"Hey," Jace says.

"Hi," Simon answers. 

*

If Simon had to pick a day, he'd say it started when Jace showed up at the library wearing sweatpants, and looking like he'd just rolled out of bed and headed out. 

"Sorry," he'd said, from somewhere in his hoodie. "Woke up late."

That was probably the first time Simon wanted to kiss Jace Wayland.

*

"I don't like going around in circles," Isabelle tells Clary. "But I like you. Want to go out sometime?"

Jace hides his surprise better than Simon. Simon gapes, mouth open and eyes wide. He looks between Clary and Isabelle twice before finally looking at Jace. Jace doesn't look away. He doesn't hear what Clary says, but he doesn't need to because he heard what Isabelle asked. Jace knows Isabelle wouldn't have asked if she hadn't been over fifty percent sure. 

"Great," Isabelle is saying. "Want to walk me to class?"

Jace tilts his head to the side and let's Isabelle kiss his cheek. 

"You're welcome," she whispers as she moves away. 

Jace grins easy, slowly. He's got Simon's attention and it's easier this time, because Jace has practiced this moment so many times he can recite the words from memory. 

"So," he says, leaning forward across the table. "I've been meaning to ask you out sometime."

"I…" Simon starts, swallows, tries again. "Yeah," he says. "Sure."

*

Ask Jace and he won't be able to say how he ended up at the arboretum, down the path that is two lefts, one right, three lefts to get to the tree gate down by the northeastern side of the campus. There must have been some talking after Isabelle and Clary left, but all Jace had been able to think about was how much he wanted to kiss Simon. 

Now, Simon has him pinned against one of the maple trees, hands inside Jace's jacket and under his shirt. They've been making out for a while, Jace's heart tripping over itself at how eager Simon is, his whole body alight and trembling. 

"I've wanted you," Jace says.

He can feel Simon shivering against him, his mouth hot as he kisses down Jace's neck. 

They're doing this all wrong, Jace knows. There's supposed to be a date before he falls apart under Simon's hands. But Jace has been imagining what it would be like if Simon wanted to kiss him back. It's good, so good Jace forgets himself. He grabs a handful of Simon's jacket, the light windbreaker folding easily into Jace's hand. Simon goes easy where Jace puts him, right up against the opposite tree, so that Jace can press himself close, until Simon's hands are tugging at Jace's hair, their kisses too hard and not enough. 

"Class," Simon manages when Jace comes up for breath. "We have to get to class."

Jace hears the words, but he can't understand them over the roaring in his ears. His heart is pounding in his chest, every nerve in his body attuned to Simon's movements. 

Simon leans away, one hand on Jace's chest to push him away. "Class," he says again. 

Jace just wants to grab him again. "I…" he manages. 

Simon smiles, easy and confident. Jace's breath catches in his throat, and he knows, the same way he knew he was home the day he saw the Lightwoods, that he will do whatever Simon asks of him. 

"Okay," he says, his voice rough. 

He can see the way Simon's eyes drop to his mouth once. Jace licks his lips, mouth a little numb. He grins when Simon looks at him again, and then it's easy to hold Simon's hand and drag him out of the arboretum to class.

*

Jace isn't in love with Isabelle, but Simon's life is still over. 

He doesn't think he's going to survive being Jace's boyfriend. Not when Jace smiles the way he does, lost and goofy like Simon is the funniest person Jace has ever met. As if that weren't bad enough, there are the moments when Simon will be talking and Jace will just look at him, eyes intense, his whole body open and welcoming. At times like those, Simon has to stop whatever he's doing and push Jace down on whatever surface they have available, and really, Simon never expected Jace to be the kind of person who liked to be handled a little roughly. 

"I like you like this," Jace says one day.

"Shut up," Simon says. 

Simon has Jace pinned against the wall in Simon's dorm, and he's concentrating on getting Jace's jeans open. Jace says something else, so Simon looks up at him and for a moment, something in Jace's expression goes soft.

It's the first time Simon's seeing it, and the way that Jace looks away almost immediately makes Simon pause. He understands then, for the first time since they've started maybe dating, that Jace is a lot less tough than he seems. It puts everything into perspective, and Simon is painfully aware of how many times they rushed into this, hard and fast because that's what Simon thought they were doing. 

"Hey," he says now. "I'm going to blow you."

Jace nods, mouth open a little as he watches Simon go to his knees.

"But after," Simon tells him. "I'm going to take you out on a date. A proper one. And then we're going to come back and do this again."

Jace's "yeah" is so soft that Simon would have missed it if he weren't paying attention. But he is, now. 

Simon promises he is.

*

"So," Jace says, one afternoon. "I'm probably in love with Simon."

Simon, who is on Jace's left, kisses Jace's cheek. "Aw," he says.

Jace rolls his eyes, but let's himself enjoy the warm feeling in his chest. He's really only here for Isabelle, since he knows that between her and Alec, Jace will get more compassion here.

Isabelle, who is hanging off the side of the couch, her legs on Clary's lap, grins at him. "I know," she says. "It's kind of cute."

It's a little naseauting, if Jace is being honest. A lot terrifying, but so easy it's almost painful. He tightens his hold on Simon's hand and feels himself relax when Simon squeezes back. 

Isabelle misses nothing, and her eyes when Jace looks at her are questioning. Jace glances at Simon, at the smile on Simon's face, then back at Isabelle. Jace nods once, and Isabelle's answering grin is so wide Jace feels the last of the tension in his shoulders disappear. 

He doesn't need to tell Isabelle he's happy with Simon. He didn't even have to tell Alec. And that, really, is what convinced Jace in the end, because if other people can see it, then that means that Simon meant it when he told Jace he was in love with him. 

The rest, Jace supposes, is just details


End file.
